Have you ever wanted to take up painting? Should I buy all these canvases, easels and paints, and paint masterpieces that only you can understand? If you have experienced such aspirations and each time put them off as untimely, then you were wrong. Scientists have conducted a lot of research and realized that everyone needs to take up drawing classes or just draw in their free time. Modern science claims that practising fine arts is not only natural for any person but also very useful. Here are eight reasons why you should draw or paint in your free time.

Creativity Reduces Stress and Anxiety

The results of a study published in the journal Art Therapy show that after just 45 minutes of painting, participants experienced a significant decrease in the level of cortisol, the stress hormone. The psychological impact of various types of creativity is so pronounced that it is becoming increasingly common as therapy for victims of domestic and criminal violence.

Improves Motor Skills

Drawing helps develop fine motor skills because it requires precise hand-eye coordination and control. Regular drawing practice strengthens these skills. And why do we need it? Well. We need it for everyday activities like writing, typing, and handling objects. It’s especially great for kids who are beginning to learn motor skills and hand coordination.

Drawing Improves Brain Function

Art affects our brains at a neural level. In 2014, the journal PLOS ONE published a scientific paper that demonstrated that visual arts can enhance connections between neurons in the human brain. According to scientists, this improvement helps us focus on subjects and rapidly absorb new knowledge.

Fine Art Helps Overcome Sadness 

Painting and drawing really help to forget about many problems. If you want to escape from sad thoughts and experiences, then pick up an easel, paints, pencils and crayons. This was once again confirmed by an experiment, the results of which were published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

Its participants were asked to watch the film “The Laramie Project,” which usually evokes very negative and even depressive emotions. After this, the spectators were divided into two groups. In one, people began to discuss events from the film,and participants in the second were asked to draw a landscape. Subsequent testing showed that the emotional state of the “artists” very quickly returned to normal, but the rest of the participants continued to experience depression and anxiety for a long time.

Mindless Sketching Helps You Concentrate

Do not think that benefits can only be obtained from serious painting. Even scribbles on paper can help out in a difficult situation. For example, if you are sitting in a meeting or a boring lecture, take a piece of paper and start filling it with some patterns. It is important to do this without any idea or purpose. According to the study, this simple trick will help your brain stay focused and remember 29% more than if you just sat and listened.

If You Want to Solve Problems, Draw Them

Scientists have long noticed that it is much easier to find a way out of a situation if you describe it on paper. But the authors of this scientific work went even further and invited participants to draw their main problems. The results exceeded all expectations: more than half of the participants said that after the art therapy session, their problems seemed not so big and in some ways even funny.

Drawing helps you achieve a state of flow

The concept of flow was proposed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and is defined by him as a mental state in which a person is completely involved in what he is doing. Creativity is one of the classic ways to achieve this state. This occurs when the creator is not interested in any specific end goal, but is fully focused on the process itself.

Improves  Communication Skills

Through painting, individuals learn to convey ideas, emotions, and narratives visually. This process encourages clarity in articulating thoughts and feelings. Additionally, painting stimulates imagination and problem-solving. Painting helps people see things differently and explain complex ideas better. It boosts creativity, emotional understanding, and the ability to understand visuals, all of which make communication skills better.